Thursday, March 29, 2012

Yesterday was my Mom's birthday. She says she's old. She's really not. Most people think she's much younger than what she is. She tends to be a little camera shy but I do have this picture of her hands. Her hands make some of the most beautiful things...

... out of anything! Seriously. Anything. Have an old onion bag? She'll make you a flower - or a scrubby for the kitchen sink. She could write a book on 1001 ways to use a toilet paper roll or coffee cans. Do you remember when you had to bring a box lunch and exchange it at school? Mine was always the most decorated, the most beautiful, the most creative. Always. I was so proud of that.

Mom comes from a long line of stubborn Norwegians who I swear were the original DIY-ers. Attitudes like, "I can do that!" and "I'm not paying that! I'll just make one myself!" were predominate in my mom's family. Still is. We are also a family of limited means. However, my mom doesn't see this as a limitation. Not at all. She sees this reality as a catalyst for creativity.

So it would make sense that my Mom and I (and my sister) have found ourselves in this business of creating beautiful things for our homes. We take things that others have discarded and make something new. We take the overlooked and make it the star of the show. We even take something that is perfectly suited to do it's job - and make it into something else! Because we can. Which brings us back to yesterday.

For my mom's birthday, we went pickin'!

Oh the beautiful rusty, bent, dirty stuff we found!!

I can not wait to see what becomes of these. We have some

ideas... but often the things themselves dictate how they want to be used.

I know there are hidden gems under all this mud.

Once we clean them up, give them a good brushing, a coat of lacquer, maybe some paint...

they'll be gorgeous dah-ling!

Happy Birthday day mom. Thanks for showing us that our creativity is only limited by our need for sleep!

Were you as fortunate as I to have parents who taught you how to be creative? Or did it come to you later in life? I would love to hear about it!